Membership programs are incredibly popular, with more than 90% of businesses having some form of loyalty program, and for good reason. They offer great value for money and often come with perks and discounts, making them a client favorite.
For medical spa owners, these programs are a great way to increase their recurring revenue and keep customers coming back every few weeks for another treatment. However, creating and managing a successful membership program requires careful planning and effort.
So… where should you start?
To help medical spa owners design, launch, and manage a profitable membership program, we’ve created a guide that covers everything you need to know.
Why are med spa memberships so popular?
The customer loyalty management market is valued at over $5.5 billion and is expected to surpass $24 billion by the end of 2028.
From Netflix for streaming shows and movies to Spotify for streaming music, these services offer tailored experiences, great value, and convenience – all at a flat monthly fee.
The trend is expanding to wellness and beauty industries, where med spa memberships are gaining popularity.
Clients are increasingly invested in their health and appearance, but they’re also looking for ways to make their self-care routines more sustainable and budget-friendly in the long term.
Here are a few reasons why memberships, in particular, are gaining traction:
- Creating clients that ‘stick’: Memberships create loyalty and commitment. Clients who sign up are more likely to become regular clients who regularly use your spa services.
- Affordability: In these times of high inflation, memberships are a financially savvy option. They break down the cost into manageable monthly payments, making it easier for clients to indulge in more premium services like chemical peels, body contouring, or micro-needling without the burden of a lump sum.
- Consistency in self-care: Memberships provide a consistent approach to self-care. Whether it’s for simple skin rejuvenation through facials, fillers, Botox, laser treatments, or managing body wellness, memberships help clients maintain their routines and see better results over time.
Benefits of med spa memberships
Membership programs can be a great way for your med spa to earn more money and keep your customers happy.
For businesses, med spa memberships offer a steady stream of recurring revenue for the spa, helping them maintain financial stability, and growth. With predictable and steady income, you can better plan for staffing, ordering stock, or even ordering new equipment.
Additionally, they help build a loyal community of clients committed to their wellness and beauty routines. You improve client retention and don’t have to deal with the financial uncertainties of an irregular client base.
For customers, med spa memberships offer ongoing, cost-effective, and customized wellness journeys catering to their needs.
The most valuable membership benefits for customers, aside from cost-effectiveness, are early access to sales (60.1%), early access to new products (50.8%), and tailored recommendations (38.9%) according to this survey.
Amish Patel, the owner of Intrigue Cosmetic Clinic, has implemented his own monthly membership program through the Pabau practice management system that enables clients to build credit on their account.
Downsides of med spa memberships
Not making a profit
One of the significant challenges you might face is decreased profitability per service. Offering discounted rates to members can lead to lower profits. So make sure you do the math beforehand, or hire an accountant who can do it for you.
- Solution: Focus on creating a pricing strategy that caters to different customer segments. Instead of relying on discounts, enhance the perceived value of memberships through exclusive benefits like priority booking and members-only hours.
Admin time required
Managing a membership program can be challenging, especially when it comes to administrative tasks.
- Solution: You can simplify this process by using membership management software to automate various tasks such as renewals, payment processing, and appointment bookings, making the admin process more manageable.
Things to keep in mind while creating a med spa membership program
Make sure you don’t lose money
If you run a med spa and want to keep your customers coming back, you should definitely consider starting a membership program. However, it’s critical to DO THE MATH to ensure it will make money, before you set one up.
To start, you need to know how much it costs to provide each service that will be part of the membership. This includes staff pay, supply costs, and equipment use.
When setting your membership fees, make sure they are competitive, cover your costs, and leave some profit for you. Different membership levels can cater to different customers, from basic to premium. This meets different customer needs and gives you a chance to earn more by encouraging upgrades.
Understand your members
To make your membership program work well, it’s really important to know what the people you’re targeting like and need.
- What treatments do they want on the membership?
- What perks or discounts do they care about?
- What is a good price point for them?
To understand what kinds of membership deals will make your customers happy and loyal, you can ask them through surveys and observe their purchase patterns and behavior.
Surveys are helpful because they let your customers tell you exactly what they think is good or bad about your membership program. You can use this information to adjust and improve your membership offers, making sure they’re something people really want and successfully converting your non-member clients.
Keep the program simple and easy
A successful membership program is straightforward for clients and staff to understand and manage.
Keeping it simple helps avoid scaring off customers and makes things run smoother. When setting it up, be clear about what members get, how much it costs, and the rules.
Also, integrating the management of the membership program with the systems you already use, like your Point of Sale (POS) and booking systems, will help make everything run more smoothly.
Getting ready to set up your membership program
Setting up
1. Define your membership model
Consider what you plan to include in your membership program. Will it feature multiple exclusive treatments, special pricing, member-only appointment times, or other unique benefits?
Decide on the rewards for your members, aka what kind of membership options to offer, how to price them, and how to structure them. You should decide if you’ll have monthly, yearly, or different levels of membership based on the rewards and frequency of the rewards. Remember to keep your language simple and familiar!
2. Pick your membership management software
Research and select a membership management software that fits your needs. Consider how user-friendly it is for both you – and your members. Look for software that allows you to customize your program to fit your brand and membership model, and has the ability to integrate with your website and other tools you use.
For example, Pabau is highly recommended for its integration capabilities, ease of use, and features tailored specifically for medical spas. It’s safe to say that it will serve as a solid foundation for your membership program.
3. Set up your membership program (with Pabau)
Pabau helps you create and manage your membership programs. You can customize these programs to meet your client’s needs and preferences, ensuring they receive the best possible experience. Pabau is designed to handle the nuances of medical spa services, making it an ideal choice.
Your team can quickly find a customer’s membership info, such as when they first signed up, which membership pricing tier they’re on, when it their membership package ends, all directly from the customer’s profile.
Pabau lets you manage your med spa’s membership programs from anywhere with internet access, including multiple locations. So, you can easily manage your business using a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.
Pricing strategy
When developing a pricing strategy for your medical spa, it’s crucial to research what your competitors offer in terms of membership. Check out their membership offers, how much they charge, and what services they provide to spot any opportunities you might have to stand out.
Notice how these businesses present themselves. Their strategies will help you understand where to differentiate yourself from the competition.
To further stand out, focus on what makes your medical spa unique, whether it’s your advanced technology, your staff’s qualifications and skills, or your unique or holistic approach to treatments.
Additionally, offering different membership tiers with benefits such as discounts, guest passes, priority booking, and exclusive access to new treatments can help attract clients.
For example, if your med spa specializes in skincare, you could offer a monthly membership that includes one hydrafacial and a discount on premium skincare products. For those more interested in comprehensive wellness, a yearly membership could provide a broader range of services such as laser hair removal, Botox injections, and access to exclusive wellness seminars.
Advertising
How you promote your membership program is just as important as the pricing itself. This strategy involves reaching potential and current customers through multiple platforms for repeated exposure, which can increase brand recognition and encourage sign-ups.
Plus, analyzing the performance across different channels can provide valuable insights into where to focus future marketing efforts for the best return on investment.
To market your spa’s membership program:
- Use Instagram and Facebook to post engaging images and videos that highlight the distinctive benefits and features of your membership program.
- Tailor your email marketing to cater to the interests and preferences of different segments of your audience. Provide exclusive promotions for email subscribers and keep them updated with the latest news about your membership program.
- Implement in-spa flyers that detail the perks of joining your membership program, provide training to your staff, and organize events to effectively promote your membership program.
Automations
Automation can greatly benefit med spa membership programs by simplifying operations and enhancing the customer experience. Pabau is a platform that offers several automation features that can help transform your program.
1. Improved customer experience
Automating booking, payment processing, and membership renewals can make things much easier. It frees up staff to focus on important aspects of the business, such as taking care of clients and improving services.
The system also sends out appointment reminders automatically. This helps clients remember their appointments, reduces no-shows and cancellations, and maximizes the spa’s resources.
2. Membership renewals
Take the headache out of membership renewals by fully automating the membership renewal and the monthly treatment charges that come with it, ensuring accurate and timely billing.
This automation offers clients a continuous membership without service interruptions or benefits. It guarantees steady recurring revenue for spas and a hassle-free payment experience for clients.
3. Personalized marketing
Finally, Pabau allows med spas to automate their marketing efforts, sending targeted and personalized emails and SMS messages to its members. It also maximizes the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, as messages can be tailored based on individual client data, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Launch your med spa membership program Pabau!
Pabau makes running your med spa’s membership programs really easy. It’s an all-in-one practice management system for online bookings, managing client records, inventory, POS system… oh, and you’ll soon be able to run your membership program from here as well.
Our membership management feature is due to be released until June this year!
In short, Pabau can really help your med spa business run smoothly and keep your customers happy. It does all the heavy lifting with its smart tools, which help bring in and keep members, making sure money keeps coming in. It even has features that let you see how well your membership program is doing so you can tweak things to do even better.
With Pabau, your membership program doesn’t just run well; it helps your business grow and keeps your customers coming back for more.
To learn more about starting with Pabau, book a demo today!
